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Rooney was the scapegoat in the friendly international against Hungary because the supporters felt - rightly - that England's performances in South Africa were unforgivable.

Those fans who turn up at Wembley on Friday night for the first Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria will make their own minds up about the treatment they will give him, but I can tell by speaking to Wayne how hurt he was by England's displays and how determined he is not to have that happen again.

England's failure this summer is a shared responsibility and that includes the management team, who should make things as easy for the players as possible in terms of the training and facilities.

An international squad should never over-train after the sort of long, hard season we have in England. The important thing is to have the players fresh for when it really matters - the day of the match.

Worn out: Rooney

You have to keep them interested, not flog them to death.

I'm not sure why after 10 months of non-stop action before the World Cup, England's players went straight to Austria for more hard training.

And I don't think that will happen again.

You can tell from the games at the start of the Premier League season that the players have recovered the energy they seemed to lack in June, when they looked jaded.

Every international manager will have looked at Spain's performances in the World Cup and the way they passed the ball and stuck together as a team. That is why they are now world champions.

You can't be sure England have the players for that sort of game because we haven't seen it but I believe we do have the players capable of it.

Rooney certainly is.

He wanted to go to South Africa and show he was the best. It didn't happen but it wasn't just him.

Bill Shankly used to say that when you are cut, you bleed - you can't help it.

Wayne has been hurt and it will take those players a long time to get over it. The expectations were very high on him and that is why he has been the scapegoat.

But he wasn't the only one to blame and a change in approach is needed by everyone - from the manager down.

Wayne was at Old Trafford on Wednesday for the visit of the FIFA delegates who have been in England to assess the bid to stage the 2018 World Cup.

Everyone is doing what they can to help the bid and I was happy to meet the delegation, tell them about the history of Manchester United's home and convey the feeling that it would be a fitting venue for World Cup matches.

I knew many of them anyway, including Danny Jordaan, who was responsible for the success of this summer's World Cup in South Africa, and wanted to emphasise to them how proud we are of our football history and how hard we would work to make the 2018 World Cup special.

Accused: Wayne Rooney (centre, with Sir Bobby Charlton, left, and Danny Jordaan at Old Trafford last week) was made a scapegoat for a poor World Cup

The FIFA delegates seemed to enjoy their visit and listened with a lot of respect to stories from United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and myself.

As we walked around the pitch, I pointed to the exact spot where I remember George Best once chipping the goalkeeper and told them the story behind the first ever private boxes in Old Trafford's North Stand.

Sir Matt Busby had been inspired by a coaching trip to the United States in the Sixties, during which he had visited the San Francisco Giants stadium.

'Spectators could sit behind glass and eat a meal while watching the game,' he told us in some awe when he returned.

'That is what we have to try to do because this game will develop massively in the years to come.'

Due to Matt's forward-thinking, it happened at Old Trafford first. The FIFA people couldn't believe how good the Old Trafford pitch was and could sense the atmosphere even in an empty stadium.

I am not getting carried away, we have done that too many times, but there was a really good feel about the day.

It is going to be a hard battle until the all-important envelope is opened with the winner's name on it on December 2.

But our tradition and our passion for football are great strengths. Sir Matt used to tell us as United players that we were there to entertain the workers who had slogged all week next door at Trafford Park, then the largest industrial estate in Europe.

He said those people deserved to watch something special with their hard-earned pay and we, as players, had a responsibility to give it to them.

It is a philosophy Sir Alex believes in today. That is how football in this country has built up; it is in our blood and that is the message we tried to get across to FIFA. I've been involved in a couple of World Cup bids before.

In 2002, I was asked by the Japanese FA to help out with their bid, which they won as co-hosts alongside Korea. Now I am glad to back our cause at every opportunity.

Time for Sir Alex to make his own Wembley history?

I was lucky enough to have two great moments at Wembley. The first was winning the World Cup with England in 1966.

The second was winning the European Cup for Matt Busby with Manchester United in 1968.

In
some ways, that was harder because while it takes only a month to win
the World Cup, it takes two years to become champions of Europe - first
to qualify through your own league and then to take on and beat the
best in Europe.

It won't have escaped Sir Alex Ferguson's notice that this season's Champions League final is at Wembley and, while I daren't dream of a repeat of 1968, wouldn't it be marvellous to see Sir Alex get his team there for the final and try to emulate Matt?

The one area where Sir Alex feels United have underachieved as a club is in the European Cup - three wins in our history is perhaps not enough given our size. It would be some occasion to make it four this season.

The draw for the group stages on Thursday presents us with a difficult task but not an impossible one, so let's give it a real go.